[Stones and Stories] Iyama Yuta, the 'Geobong' Who Troubled AlphaGo

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] Iyama Yuta 9-dan, the pride of Japanese Go. The reason he is called the ‘Geobong Teacher’ is intriguing. In 2016, a reclusive master appeared in the online Go world. His nationality was Korean. His ID was ‘Master 9-dan’. That was all that was known. His record was remarkable. He continued an incredible 60-game winning streak.

An absolute powerhouse that even the world’s top players struggled against. Was this reclusive master like a protagonist from a manga emerging into the world? Rumors about the identity of this absolute powerhouse were rampant. The suspicion was cleared up by an announcement from DeepMind, a Google subsidiary. The protagonist was a new prototype of artificial intelligence (AI) AlphaGo (AlphaGo Master).

Even the AlphaGo Master, which showed overwhelming strength, had its flaws. This incident occurred during a match against Iyama.

There appeared a bad Go shape so shameful that a human would not be able to raise their head. Nine black stones were placed together in a square, forming a shape overall similar to a bunch of grapes. In Go, which values efficiency, such extreme ‘stone overlap’ is something even beginners do not play.

Park Jeonghwan 9-dan from Korea is playing Go against Iyama Yuta 9-dan from Japan (right in the photo)
[Photo provided by Korea Baduk Association]

The reason AlphaGo Master had no choice but to play this way was because it was caught in Iyama’s reading. The match ended with AlphaGo Master’s victory, but Iyama was regarded as the best-performing human.

Iyama is the undisputed number one in the Japanese Go world. In June, he succeeded in defending the 77th Honinbo title, setting a new record. Iyama achieved 11 consecutive Honinbo titles from 2012 to 2022. This finally broke the previous record of 10 consecutive Honinbo titles held by Cho Chikun 9-dan.

It is also considered only a matter of time before Iyama surpasses Cho Chikun’s record for the most wins in Japanese Go.

Iyama is a national hero to the extent that he received the ‘People’s Honor Award’ bestowed by the Japanese government. The People’s Honor Award is so prestigious that Shohei Ohtani, a pride of Japanese baseball, declined it saying, “It is not yet the time to receive such a big award.” Iyama’s dominance is closely linked to the concerns of Japanese Go. Because the absolute number one system has continued for such a long time, it is said that Japanese Go has not been able to escape the status of a frog in a well.

Korea has seen the emergence of new strong players who have ended the era of absolute powerhouses such as Cho Hunhyun, Lee Chang-ho, Lee Sedol, Park Jeong-hwan, and Shin Jin-seo. Thanks to this, the overall strength has risen together. This is why they still dominate the world major tournaments. On the other hand, Japan continues to suffer the ‘humiliation of no titles’ in world major tournaments.

According to Go ratings that report player rankings, there is not a single Japanese player ranked within the world top 20. Iyama is only ranked 27th. Japan’s reality was also revealed in the 24th Nongshim Shin Ramyun Cup World Baduk Championship, which recently finished its second round. Japan, with five participants, was on the brink of elimination with zero wins.

The last remaining player, Iyama, on the 29th of last month, won by resignation after 269 moves against China’s Lian Xiao 9-dan, leading Japan into the third round. If Iyama had also been defeated, the third round would have been a bilateral match between Korea and China.

Despite the fame of the Nongshim Shin Ramyun Cup as the Go Three Kingdoms, Japan could have been reduced to a spectator.

Iyama must face three Korean players and two Chinese players alone. Can Iyama recreate the legendary five consecutive wins of Lee Chang-ho in the Nongshim Cup? His first opponent is no easy match. The first game of the third round on February 20 next year is against Korea’s Park Jeong-hwan 9-dan. If Japan cannot overcome the Korean wall, it must accept the fate of being a Go spectator.